This weeks AMFisH fishing vlog – Full review of the SPRO BBZ-1 rat bait!

Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of the SPRO BBZ1 rat top water bait.

If you love top water fishing as much as I do, definitely watch this entire video as I go over the features of this bait in great detail as I have been using it now for a few seasons and absolutely love it!

SPRO U.S.A makes a lot of great quality baits and this BBZ1 rate bait is made extremely well! From the hard plastic molded body, the good quality strong hooks, heavy duty o-rings and a real lifelike tail, this bait rocks!

As I mention in this video this is the largest size of this rat bait and it also comes in a much smaller version which is great for catching other fish species as well. This larger size has caught me some 5 pound range largemouth bass and I have even had some big smallmouth bass strike at it before, the action and sound of this bait is what brings fish up for the attack.

This bait has a wiggling body and when the two pieces bump into one another while it is being retrieved it makes quite the clanking noise that can be heard several yards away from the boat. This sound is what allows fish to feel the vibrations traveling below the waters surface and due to the lifelike action of a rat moving across the water, it blends right in to what the fish are seeing on a regular basis.

Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and predator fish will attack everything from small rodents scurrying across the surface, to snakes, baby ducks, bugs, frogs, lizards, birds and anything that is near that water surface is fair game for these species.

The SPRO rat bait is quite durable as it is made tough as nails! The paint job on this bait will not scratch off quickly at all, which confirms this bait is made very well. After several pike attacks on the grey bait I show in this video, there were only a few small teeth scratches on the body of the bait, it held up extremely well after being viciously attacked by predator fish that hit baits hard!

If you are looking to add a very cool looking top water bait to your fishing arsenal definitely consider the SPRO BBZ1 rat bait, it’s a killer at getting fish attention!

Hope you found this post and video helpful and if you have any questions on this bait feel free to comment with them.

The AMFisH guy…tight lines!

LEARN more here: www.amfish.ca

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#bassfishing #fishing #fishingtips #AMFisH

Pike gone wild! The story of a great day of pike fishing.

Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFisHers!  This blog post is titled Pike gone wild and it’s a good title for my most recent day of fishing this past weekend.

I was out at a local conservation lake targeting largemouth bass and was planning on doing some pike fishing as well, but the bass were nowhere to be found. The water was very calm all day, with very little wind so I knew the fishing might be tough but it was actually the opposite fish were feeding all day long.

Sometimes the conditions appear one way but the fish will always tell us what is going on. With the water looking like a large piece of glass, motionless and all the first sign of what fishing would be like was all the activity going on in nature. Birds were flying around chirping, frogs were croaking, bug were flying around, ducks were feeding on the water as were Canadian goose, a lot of water activity that confirmed the fish would be feeding.

I started to fish various areas I usually catch bass in and even those tight to shorelines thick weed areas and I got a massive first strike by a dock. I thought it was a bass at first as it behaved like a bass then I saw it was a nice size pike that smashed my LIVETARGET top water hollow body sunfish bait. As I continued to fish the tall weed shoreline I was getting top water strike after top water strike on my sunfish bait, crazy hard strikes as well!

The biggest pike of the day actually smashed the bait felt it was hooked and jumped out of the water backwards back into the 6 foot tall weeds, then wrapped me around several bundles trying to get free.  The baits of the day were the LIVETARGET hollow body sunfish which is a top water bait, the Freedom Tackle Corp. Hydra shad which is a hair jig style bait that I tipped with a white curly tail grub and a Sebile black and chartreuse lipless cranbait, all baits caught several fish for me.

It was one of those fishing days where you just knew you could not do anything wrong, all the baits I had planned on using were catching fish even though it was not the fish species I was targeting, the baits were all bang on to what the fish were feeding on.  During this 8 plus hour day of fishing I ended up catching only pike and about 20 of them in total, ranging from little hammers about 14 inches long right up to a few over 20 plus inches, so it made for one of those awesome fishing days!

Those first few minutes on the water can really tell you a lot about what is going on that day, so be sure to pay attention to what nature is telling you, it can really be a huge game changer when it comes to catching or not catching fish.  I started out making 10 casts with each bait, if nothing was getting attention I would switch between the three baits I had decided to use that day. The best performing bait by far on this day was the hydra shad hair jig style bait, in a white with red pattern. The bait itself was about 6 inches in overall length and as always I added a three each white curly tail grub as a trailer for added action and scent, which really sealed the deal!

This was a new bait I was trying this season and it worked so well for me that when I cast it out the first time I had a fish on in seconds. Now granted the fish were feeding but the bait looked good enough to them right from the start that they were making it a meal! When you have a high level of confidence thinking a bait will work for you, it can definitely turn an average fishing day into an awesome fishing day!

Trying new baits each season and sometimes even trying those new baits you bought and have yet to try out is always a good thing, as you learn how to use that new bait and also learn if you have confidence using it. I could not have asked for a better fishing day, the fish were all over the place and hitting everything I was using, let’s call this day an anglers dream day of fishing!

I ended up capturing a lot of great video clips and some really cool fish catch pictures, even  though it was a drizzling rain on and off day I did everything I could to make sure I took great fishing pictures by utilizing the hazy bright sky to my advantage. All in all is was a great outing and some much needed time spent fishing!

Tight lines everyone!

The AMFisH guy…

#fishing #pikefishing #AMFisH #fishingtips

 

The tin can that started my fishing passion!

Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFishers, this blog post is about the tin can that started my massive passion for fishing!

Who knew a tin can filled with some spinnerbaits could have that massive of an affect on me as a youngster, but it sure did!

I grew up with parents who were not very into the outdoors outside a couple of camping trips per year, so I am pretty sure fishing and the outdoors was just part of who I was and who I wanted to be in life. After having subscribed to the mailing list for the Bass Pro Shops online ordering catalogue, I knew I was spending time on something that had really intrigued me.

I would spend so much time looking through the catalogue at all this fishing stuff I had no idea about, which was very overwhelming but I was all over it trying to read through every bait description and watch every fishing show that was on TV to learn as much as I could.

Not to this red tin can below, I believe it was called the Tin O Spins, which came filled with 10 assorted spinnerbaits. I started out fishing with spinnerbaits as that was the simplest bait I had read about and it also was the most common bait I would see fishing guys using in magazines and the shows. Man oh man was I one happy camper when my first order from Bass Pro Shops arrived, this tin of spinnerbaits really did change my life!

I was doing everything I could to learn as much about fishing, all my time was dedicated to checking on when the shows would be on, to scrounging up enough money to buy some fishing magazines and even spending that hard earned weekly allowance money of an order from Bass Pro Shops. 

The unfortunate part was I did not get out much and basically lived fishing though my magazines and TV shows, because of my parents not being outdoorsy it was tough to get to any lakes, so you could bet that on those two camping trips per year I would vanish and spend my time casting even though I had limited understanding of what I was actually doing.

Now all these years later I have fished well over 1,000 times, caught some very good quality memorable fish and run a fishing blog and video blog series, looks like all that time back then was spent well.  There is definitely something to be said for finding what you passion or passions in life are and taking as many steps that are needed to live those passions!

As of today my written blog has reached many people around the world as has my video series and when I spend time responding to questions and comments it feels like it’s the best way to spend my time, helping others learn to catch fish is what I know I was put on this earth to do.

If you are looking to learn more about a specific fresh water fish species or multi species fishing, then AMFisH is the right place for you! Make sure to visit all my social pages, where you will find a lot of value add content and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can follow the bi-weekly videos series!

I would love to know what started your passions and love for fishing so please feel free to share and engage with me on any social platform you are on…looking forward to chatting with many of you soon!

The AMFisH guy…tight lines!

#fishing #passions #fishingtips #AMFisH #bassfishing

 

AMFisH blog post – Engage with the AMFisH Facebook page – fishing.

Hi fishing world, if you have yet to engage with the AMFisH Facebook page click this link and do so today!  

https://www.facebook.com/AMFish14/

AMFisH is an online fishing resource comprised of over 1000 written blog post’s and just over 200 informative videos, which you can find many of on my Facebook page. 

What else will you see on our Facebook page? Well let’s just say there is a lot of content on there, everything from something to make you laugh, right up to fishing tips you may never have known about, so get on in there and engage on any of the many post’s!

We encourage you to share your fishing photos, stories, questions and anything else you might want to share that is fishing related, as there is nothing that I enjoy more than engaging with all your anglers, fishing enthusiast’s and AMFisHers out there!

The AMFisH guy…tight lines!

#fishing #fishingtips #bassfishing #AMFisH #AMFisHers

 

 

This weeks AMFisH fishing vlog – Fishing tips to fish more effectively on windy days.

Hi AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about how to fish more effectively on windy days.

Don’t forget to visit my site above and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more informative videos like this one!

Wind can be our best friend while fishing or our worst enemy so there are key items to take into consideration when you arrive to a lake and see it is a very windy day. One of the first things I like to do is start a chat with any locals that have arrived to fish as well, this is a great way to get a better understanding of what the last few days have been like in that area. I will ask stuff like has it been windy like this all week or how has the weather been here this past week, both great starter questions to gather more info on how to approach your day on the water.

From here I take a few minutes while getting ready to observe the wind and waves, so I can get a better gauge on speed and my strategy moving forward. Once I am on the water I feel the lake out, by paddling out in my kayak and stopping to see if there is only one wind direction I am dealing with or two like in this video. From here I immediately head into a streamlined shoreline casting approach, where I drift with the wind to gauge speed again and it’s much easier to fish with the wind than against it.

There are a variety of baits that can do well with a little wind, first one being a spinnerbait as it is best fished with a slight wind. You can also try some lipless crankbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, jerkbaits and spoons, all good choices for casting with the wind and possibly into the wind if need be due to the weight/profile of these baits causing minimal drag in the air. As I have these baits ready to go I cast the shorelines to try and locate any tight to shore holding fish or moving fish that are chasing down schools of bait fish, as those windy days stir the water up a lot causing massive movement of the feed bait fish feed on hence causing the predator fish to follow the bait they feed on.

Any attempt at fishing directly in an open water area on a windy day is quite the task, as is trying to fish slow bait presentations that require keeping your bait in the strike zone for as long as possible. If I locate fish along the shorelines on the above baits I stick it through until the fish stop biting then I review my approach again. If the fish are not near the shorelines I back myself out several yards to try and find that deeper edge of water, anywhere from 8 to 15ft where I try these same baits again either casting or trolling them which is a great way to fish on windy days.

Trolling is quite the natural bait presentation, as it a bait in a steady swimming motion that is covering a lot of water and again is easier to do on windy days. If there are still no bites I stay in this same area and slow things down by dragging a bait along the bottom while the wind blows me along the lake. Good baits to do this with are soft plastic swimbaits rigged on jig heads, deep running crankbaits, soft plastic tubes, any soft plastic bait that can be rigged on a lead jig head and dragged along will do the trick.

Depending on the species you are targeting you can really put a pattern together on windy days by trying some of the above baits and strategies, which can also include trying to tuck into bays and direct target casting areas within that bay with slower presentations like the ones above as well. The key thing to realize is when the wind arrives you automatically need to adjust for what is happening, in order to be able to fish that day.

Now on really windy days where you are unable to even cast any bait, the choice of trolling is quite clear as being the only option for you. Trolling can be quite productive and it can be done in various conditions, so when it gets far too windy use a high confidence trolling bait and get to covering as much water as you can, moving in and out of shallow/deep water to locate moving fish. Remember to always keep safety at the top of your list and if wind picks up to an extreme level, it’s best to leave fishing for another day.

Here is a recap of the key items to note when wind and waves arrive: user heavier baits, used baits with aerodynamic body styles, cast with the wind instead of into it, tuck into shoreline bays, avoid fishing open water as it will be much more windy, consider trolling for a while and cast the shorelines with the wind carrying you along. Learning to utilize the wind is a must as it will help keep you fishing more often instead of trying to avoid those windy days.

Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines everyone!

The AMFisH guy…

Visit today: www.amfish.ca

#fishingtips #fishing #AMFisH #bassfishing

This week AMFisH fishing vlog – Top water fishing times.

Hi fellow anglers, fishing enthusiasts and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is about top water fishing and what times are the best to catch fish on top water baits.

As many of you may think early morning is the best time to catch fish on top water baits, but that is not really the case as you can actually catch fish throughout the day as well. No granted using top water baits as soon as the sun starts to rise is always a good time of day, but you can also try top water baits throughout the day and even into the late evening.

My most favorite time to fish is dusk, during that last 25 minutes or so of daylight as it seems to be a great feeding time for roaming predator fish species. I also fish top water around this time as well, as it too can produce some crazy strikes! Morning and dusk are typically your best time to use top water presentations, due to the fact that in the morning we will see bait like frogs, schools of bait fish scurrying around and lots of bugs on the surface of the water, same happens at dusk so when you see this type of top water activity taking place it is by far the best time to try top water baits!

When I see frogs swimming around I use frog baits, when I see schools of bait fish jumping around in the water I use a top water minnow style bait, when I see insects on the surface I go right to buzzing a small inline spinner just below the surface, all good bait choices for matching the top water activity that is happening at that time. I will also try top water baits when I see large flocks of birds sitting on the surface feeding, this is another great time to catch fish as where the birds are in where the bait is and where the bait is, is where the fish are.

I also try top water throughout the day, as it can produce a good bite as well. When slight waves pick up it’s a good time, when a slight wind picks up it’s a good time, when it starts to rain it’s a good time, when it’s mid day and really hot it can be a good time fishing top water baits in the shallows as well. As you can see there are a lot of top water time choices, so don’t limit yourself to always thinking you need to race to the lake for 5am to try top water fishing, as that is not the case, especially with so many time options available.

Another good time to pull top water baits out is just before a storm rolls in, as the pressure changes there is a small window of opportunity where the fish start to feed like crazy once they sense this pressure change, so capitalizing on this window can result in some big fish being caught!

Rule of thumb is to use bright colored baits under bright sunny conditions and dark colors under low light conditions and this should be a big focus for top water fishing especially later in the day, because fish will not be able to see a very bright bait much at all when they look up at the surface of the water in low light conditions. Using a darker bait like an all black or dark blue, green, grey, red or orange will allow the fish to see the bait profile 1001% better. If you fish top water baits during the night which is also another good time choice, definitely make sure you are using the darkest bait possible and incorporate sound in the bait, like extra rattles or more blades for extra vibration, that will all help the fish zone in on the bait a lot easier, as they will be able to feel it and track it down better.

The top water bite is a very exciting bite to say the least, so make sure to try it throughout the day especially if some of the conditions in this post arise.

Hope you found this video helpful…tight lines everyone!

The AMFisH guy…

Visit today: www.amfish.ca

#fishing #bassfishing #AMFisH #fishingtips

Water safety – must always be at the top of your list – fishing.

Hi fellow fishing enthusiasts, anglers and AMFisHers, you have probably heard me talk about water safety many times before and I am touching on it again as I got caught in a furious storm this past weekend, that came out of nowhere.

When I got on the water it was slightly windy and sunny, blue skies with several white clouds. The chance of storms was 30%, which explained why the day was not bad, until it all changed very quickly right out of the blue.

This intense sky engulfing storm showed up right before my eyes and it rolled in at warp speed. I had very little time if any to make a decision on which shore to get to ASAP, as being in the water in a storm is very unsafe.

Once I knew where I was trying to get to I did everything I could to get there as quickly as possible, unfortunately this storm did not make it easy. Winds picked up to well over 47 km/h, high waves arrived, thick heavy very intense rain started coming down, visibility was about 15ft in any direction and it even started to drop hail.

I did not feel safe at all, kept paddling as quickly and as safely as I could to get to shore, any shore was an option at this point, as I wanted to safely be on land. I managed to get to an abandoned old cottage, where I secured my kayak that had over 6 inches of water in it at this point. Those first few steps on land felt so wonderful, even though I was completely soaked and freezing cold.

Decisions in emergency situations like this need to be made pretty quickly but safety and with smart thoughts. I was about a 8 minute walk back to the main dock where my truck was and being totally soaked to the bone, I decided to jog back to my jeep so I could build up some warmth.

After this short jog in the rain with my life jacket on for warmth, I got to my to my truck where I had some extra clothing and rain gear, changed quickly and waited the storm out.

Keeping eyes to the skies in critical on any day, the chance of this storm was so low percentage wise and the clear skies fooled everyone fishing that day. I knew the weather could change and was keeping an eye out on the sky, but when these intense systems roll through sometimes they are packing a serious punch at serious speed, hence why I got caught.

Keep safety at the top of your list always and when you see dark skies like this from a large distance start making your way in to shore as it can only take a few minutes for them to show up.

The AMFisH guy…

Visit today: www.amfish.ca.

#watersafety #fishingtips #fishing #AMFisH

Fish care – How to land and handle fish safely – fishing.

Hi fellow fishing enthusiast’s, anglers and fellow AMFisHers, this blog post is about how to land and handle fish safely to prevent personal injury and to keep the fish healthy as well as damage free. Over the many years of fishing I have always done my best to not handle any fish I catch too much, with the #1 rule being to always wet my hands really well before grabbing a fish to eliminate removing the protective slime which fish need to survive. 

Time and time again I have seen far too many people struggle taking fish of the line whether they are in a boat or on shore, in the end potentially harming themselves or the fish.  The most important tip here everyone is to leave the line slack once you have the fish in the net or have a hold of it. 

The habit for many people is to reel the fish in beside the boat with about 5 to 6 feet of line, then grab the line and pull it towards then into the boat, but the problem here is the line is tight  and it will get even more tight as it stretches, causing a lot of resistance on the hook with even more resistance on the fish and all that flex is something you will be battling against, definitely not the right way to do it.

The easiest way to do this is to grab the line above the fish and let some line off the reel at the same time, this gives you an extra few feet of line to work with, while there is no pressure on the hook.  The hook itself on slack line should be easy to wiggle around with the pliers. Keeping the line tight is for when you are fighting the fish, always keep the pressure on BUT when you are releasing a fish there is no need for pressure you actually need slack line to get the hook out easily, which will also allow you to do less harm to the fish as well as release it in a reasonable amount of time, as well as prevent injury to yourself or someone fishing with you.

As you will see in this video (click here to watch: https://youtu.be/WmbxilS7C78) after the few good jumps this little chunky largemouth put up during the fight, I instantly slow things down drastically from all the excitement that was just taking place. I was battling some wind and current which is where I quickly realized I would not be able to land the fish immediately as I first thought.

I needed to back out of that shallower water to land this fish so keeping my line tight was a key part to being able to land this fish without it jumping off. With my rod secure I paddled backwards into a better position before I attempted to finally land the fish.

By slowing things down when the fish fight is about to end, this calmer state allows us to be a lot more focused on the tasks at hand. There actually are a lot of things that need to fall into place before a fish can be landed safely and they range from landing the fish on the side of the boat of kayak that best works for you, avoiding clutter and any snags with the rod, having a wet glove ready to grab the fish, battling wind, battling current, having the net untangled/ready and even having your camera/phone ready for those pictures.

With any of the above out of sorts landing any fish can quickly take a turn for any angler, so being prepared before you land every fish is key. Make sure all the tools you will need are organized and easily accessible and by keeping all these items in the same place on each outing really makes things simple and your memory will be kicking in and reaching for those same areas, for what is needed at that moment. 

Key items to land and handle fish safety are, a good pair of rubber coated fish gloves, a fish gripper tool, needle nose pliers, fish unhooking tool, jaw spreaders and an extendable landing net.

(rubber coated gloves)

(fish gripper)

In most cases using a small net, fish lip gripper or lip gripping the fish with your hand will do just fine for landing it safely, but this also depends on the species of the fish. I recommend using rubber coated fishing gloves(note: be sure to wet them first before handling any fish) as they will provide the best grip possible especially if you are not very confident in holding fish.

When it comes to a landing net I use a small fold up trout net that works great for landing any size pan fish, bass, walleye and even smaller pike and the net can act like a live well beside the boat, where you can actually leave the fish inside the net until you are fully ready to unhook it and take your pictures. As long as the fish is in the net and under water it should do just fine, so always make sure the fishes head is below the surface of the water at all times.

(needle nose pliers)

(unhooking tool)

Now when you finally land the fish one key thing to remember especially if you are grabbing it by the mouth is to let out some line, to avoid battling the fishing rod. When you have that firm grip on the fishes mouth, let out a little line to relieve the tension off the rod and hook. By doing this is will allow you to have some slack in the line and will make hook removal quite easy at that point. 

Also avoid placing the fish at the bottom of the kayak, boat or on a grassy/rocky shore as this will only lead to damaging the fish and you scrambling around trying to grab it. A good solid mouth hold on the fish will allow you to unhook it quite safely so there is no need to rest the fish anywhere in your water vessel.

By having the various tools I listed above, you will be fully prepared for any situation that may arise, from a deeply hooked fish where the unhooking tool will come in handy, to the jaw spreaders that may be needed to hold the fish’s mouth open for a serious hook removal.

It’s much better to invest a little money into having these tools and being totally prepared versus not having some of them and risking injury to your hands as well as possibly killing a fish that did not need to die because it was hooked badly and you needed some of these tools to save it.

(jaw spreaders)

(extendable landing net)
When it comes to taking fishing pictures the #1 thing to have in mind here is how long the fish is out of the water. Fish can only hold their breath as long as the average person, so please keep this in mind as what we think has only been a few seconds can actually be a lot longer, so giving a fish a few breaths in the water between pictures is a must.

Make sure your phone and camera are in a secure easy place to grab quickly and only take the fish out of the water just before you are going to take your pictures. By doing this it will be a lot let stress on yourself and the fish, resulting in much better fishing pictures!

Hope you found this post helpful…tight lines everyone!

The AMFisH guy…

Learn more here: www.amfish.ca

#bassfishing #fishing #fishingtips #AMFisH

This weeks AMFisH fishing vlog – Review of the Freedom Tackle Corp. spinnerbait – fishing.

Hi fishing enthusiast’s fellow anglers and AMFisHers! This weeks AMFisH(Visit today: www.amfish.ca) fishing vlog is a review of the Freedom Tackle Corp. spinnerbait.

This post is a must read and this video is a must watch for anyone out there that enjoys fishing for bass with spinnerbaits as much as I do! This is a great product line of spinnerbait’s with some very unique action to them that you will not find on another spinnerbait on the market.

Freedom Tackle’s spinnerbaits and some of their other baits as well have a free swinging hook that attaches securely to the bait head through a very cool head chamber and rigging system. With the bait allowing the head ad hook to move around in all directions this creates a lot of extra bait action you will not be able to replicate on standard spinnerbaits. A standard spinnerbait has the hook built right into the lead head, making it all one straight piece with zero movement. The Freedom Tackle spinnerbait on the other hand allows you to remove the hook if need be, as it attaches and detaches quite easily off the mechanism.

This spinnerbait offers a lot of advantages like being able to change the size of your hook, to something smaller or larger, being able to remove the hook if for some reason it gets damaged, being able to have various soft plastic trailers pre-rigged on spare hooks for easy changing of the baits appearance, switching out and replacement of the spinnerbait skirt and most importantly a superior bait action that drives fish insane!

In this video I talk in great detail about all these benefits that a normal spinnerbait does not offer, especially making these changes quickly and easily. You will also be able to Texas rig your soft plastics on these spinnerbaits which is not something a regular spinnerbait offers either, so this one thing alone is a big advantage as you can make an already weedless bait that much more weedless!

When it comes to using soft plastic trailers there are two advantages over regular spinnerbaits as well, first one being there is a corkscrew style bait keeper on the hook that allows you to secure your soft plastic to prevent it from being pulled off easily. Second advantage is the money you will save on soft plastics, yes you read that correctly this product will save you money on soft plastics due to the fact that you can pre-rig numerous soft plastics on spare hooks and have them ready for use. By doing this you eliminate constantly threading on soft plastics over and over again as you would on a normal spinnerbait, as all those entry and exit holes on soft plastics cause them to get torn up much faster.

With 6 of these spinnerbaits the combinations you can come up with are endless, talk about a huge advantage! Being able to quickly and easily turn 6 spinnerbaits into various style spinnerbaits and further more various style baits out of a spinnerbait is priceless to any angler as we all battle space in our boats, canoes and kayaks. Being a hardcore kayak fisherman myself this spinnerbait really does allow me to get on the water with a lot less tackle and that is a huge advantage when space is an issue.

If you are looking for some very unique spinnerbait action and a superior product with some many advantages you will definitely want to check Freedom Tackle Corp out!

Hope you found this post and video helpful and if you have any questions about this product feel free to comment below.

The AMFisH guy…tight lines!

Visit today: www.amfish.ca

#bassfishing #fishing #fishingtips #FreedomTackle #AMFisH

My two day musky adventure blog post – fishing!

Hi AMFisHers! This blog post is the full story of my recent two day 2017 musky opener fishing trip.

The trip started Saturday June 3rd as that is when musky season officially opened in the area I decided to fish. This is a lake I have fished for many years now and have caught some muskies here in the past. I know the lake very well and know a lot of great musky spots, but my biggest challenge this season was musky fishing out of a kayak.

Musky fishing is already a challenge in itself, strong heavy gear is needed along with big heavy baits, so fishing for musky from a boat is already draining enough and I was very prepared for how draining it would be from a kayak, but determination could not hold me back!

I arrived at the lake around noon as my plan for the first day of fishing was to stay out on the lake well into the late evening as I wanted to experience and get more familiar with fishing for muskies at night. I got all my gear ready and the weather was in full cooperation as it was a warm day with lot’s of sunshine, only immediate problem I realized was the water temperature was still quite cold. The weather in this area had not been hot enough over several days so with the cooler temps I immediately knew I would have to revisit my strategies that were in place in order to try and catch some muskies.

As I headed out to my first spot that was a big weedy bay not far from shore that leads into some deeper water, I was going to stick with my strategy for a short while to see if I needed to rethink things as I kind of knew I would. My presentation was to use 6 to 7 inch bucktails in bright colors due to the very sunny day. I started casting right up over the weedy area, as the weeds were submerged and the presentation was to burn these bucktails back quickly to trigger any active fish strikes. About 20 casts in with no action I decided to slow the speed of my retrieve down slightly as I mentioned the water was still quite cool for early June so it made sense to slow my bait retrieve down. After another 20 casts in this same bay with 4 different bucktails there was still no musky action or even any sign of any fish being interested.

I switched from bucktails to some mid size minnow style crankbaits, then some mid size soft plastic musky baits and lastly some top water pro style baits. The result on my first spot was the same with all the baits I used, no fish in sight no fish interested in what I had to offer. The weather was not ideal as muskies prefer warmer water in the early months during and after their spawn is complete, but a sunny hot day and water that was still cold made me quickly revisit my approach and instantly start considering much slower bait presentations, so I was actually approaching it like I was fishing in late fall.

I hit my second spot which is a decent size rock shoal a few hundreds yards straight out from the main dock area. This spot is ideal for muskies, large somewhat shallow rocky sandy flats with many scattered weedy patches that are surrounded by deep water escapes and even thick weed cover deeper water as well, the best of everything. I started off with my original approach for several casts and actually got a solid hit as soon as my bucktail with the water. It felt like a good hit from a decent size fish but I knew it was not a musky and was pretty confident it was a nice big smallmouth bass that was hanging around the rock shoal. Low and behold the battle was on, this very chunky smallmouth was jumping everywhere trying to get off the hooks!

Needless to say during both these smallmouth bass fights the fish got the best of me this day, as they jumped and bounced off the kayak as I was was pulling them into the cradle I had secured on the side of my kayak. After wrapping up at this spot I paddled over to my third spot which was the largest one I had easy access to and holds muskies. Again it a large flat with various weed edges in that 5 to 10ft depth range and has access to deeper water and shallower water. I started off with top water, then went to my shallower running crankbait, then back to bucktails and finally a medium size soft plastic musky bait. At this spot I must have made over 12,977 casts and figure eights, talk about grueling work! Unfortunately again there were no musky sittings in the area, nor any kind of fish activity at all, so the pattern of this many casts with several baits and not fish brought me back to the fact that the fish had really turned off being active and it was going to take even more than a slower fall presentation to hook into any.

Day one ended with me continuing to fish right up until around 10pm, but I fished the two first spots again and again as they were much closer to shore so safety had to be first. Once day one ended I went back to the main dock, loaded all my gear and kayak and decided to try some casting from shore to see if any big ones were cruising the shallows at night. Worked the same group of bait presentations I had been working all day, not one bite not one breach not one fish anywhere to be found. After a few more chats with fellow musky anglers they too mentioned a few smaller musky run in’s but no landed fish, so I decided to call it a day as the bugs by this time were out in full force.

I crashed for the night as a typical angler would do, in my JEEP and enjoyed a very not so good sleep, when I actually thought it would not be too bad to sleep in but those JEEP seats are not comfy at all! Got up early Sunday morning grabbed some breakfast and a coffee from Tim’s and headed back to the dock which was only 7 minutes away. Note to anyone thinking of sleeping in there vehicle overnight during a fishing trip, make sure to make yourself as secure as possible, which is why I decided to crash at a Tim Horton’s because it was an all night open location with a lot of car and people traffic, cameras and lights, seemed like the safest place to crash. Also make sure to have a very bright luminous flashlight handy, as it can make for a great self defense item, by utilizing the intense brightness to blind the eyes of anyone either trying to get into your vehicle or trying to harm you.

Once I got to the lake it was absolutely the most stunning view I had seen in many months! The lake was completely motionless and resembled a large piece of glass, not a wave or any water movement in sight. While getting things prepped and assessing if the rain they called for was going to actually happen, I knew that water this still would not make for good musky fishing. While enjoying my coffee and breakfast there was zero and I mean zero water activity by anything. No bugs moving on the surface not birds feeding and no fish breaches, all things you do not want to see not taking place.

A few other anglers that were there for their second day of fishing walked over and we engaged in a lengthy conversation about if we any of us were actually going to fish that day. Since I had mad the 2 plus hour drive up to this lake from Toronto and was in no rush to get home, I spoke with a few guys a long while longer to see if any changes would start happening to the lake. After some time had passed a slight wind picked up and the water started to move, this was a good sign but it needed to last in order for the fishing to start picking up. The wind stayed steady and the few of us were about to get out on the water in the next few minutes, when it clouded over even more and the rain moved in.

I jumped into my truck to observe what was going to happen next, as rain usually stirs up the lake and fish start to feed. Low and behold nothing was happening, the wind got stronger the rain less intense and there was once again zero fish activity, no surface breaches which is usually the norm once it starts to rain. I decided to wait a while longer as it was still quite early and cool that morning. A couple of boats headed out anyway and I used this time to rethink about what my strategy was going to be if I got out on the water.

After a short while it was still raining but quite lightly, so I decided to shore fish again with some top water musky baits, to see if anything was going on. When I say zero attention to my baits I mean a big fat “0”, nothing was anywhere, no roaming fish not feeding fish. From here I tried a few more musky baits with no success and decided to downsize dramatically to see if any other species might be feeding. Started using smaller size inline spinners and again no fish action of any kind. After an hour or so of experimenting I could see the two boats heading back towards the dock, with their heads shaking side to side as they had not had any luck. The second boat was heading to the other side of the lake and also gave me the we saw no fish look as well, this was when I knew battling the lake in that wind with my kayak with a hope that fish would start to feed was completely off the table at this point.

I continued to walk around the immediate shoreline casting various size baits with no success at all and the decision to pack it all in and head home seemed fitting right about then. All in all it was a very tiring musky opener with a lot learned on my end even though I did not catch any fish, I was going home with a new appreciation for musky fishing as well as very sore muscles.

The fish of 10,000 casts definitely beat all the anglers that weekend and that is how things go sometimes, we do everything we can and still come up empty handed when it comes to catching fish, but the learning’s are the most valuable takeaway for any angler who stuck it through as long as they could.

Hope you enjoyed this musky story…tight lines!

The AMFisH guy…

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